


runnin' through the waves of love

by abbyli



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, F/M, Finding Peace, Happy Ending, Some Fluff, Vignettes, loving family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-04
Updated: 2017-06-04
Packaged: 2018-11-09 00:46:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11093394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abbyli/pseuds/abbyli
Summary: The newborn’s cry fills the air. Oberyn walks out to the waiting room where the others are waiting. “It’s a girl.”Doran gets up from his seat and wraps his arms around him, kissing his cheek. “Congratulations, brother.”Oberyn smiles back, resting his hand on Doran’s neck. “We’re calling her Elia.”(The Martells find the peace they so deserve.)





	runnin' through the waves of love

In the months that had passed since the murders of his sister and her two young children, Oberyn had taken to ways that had never been like him before. Ways that his sister would happily clobber him for if she could see him now.

He hoped she couldn’t.

Oberyn had always wondered about the great unknown, about Heaven and Hell and anything in between. In the end, he had decided that it was better to stick to the unknown and not worry about what came after. His brother Doran was a richly religious man and always dragged his family off to church. He and Elia would scamper off whenever they could, choosing to spend the day together at the movies and ending up being tossed out for throwing popcorn at the screen.

Elia was more hopeful about the afterlife. “ _You never know, little brother,”_ she would say when he would question her claims. _“I don’t believe in going to church and preaching and praying to some invisible god though. If there is a God, all he or_ she _wants us to do is love and live and be happy.”_

And so that’s what he did.

-;

He married Ellaria on a unseasonably cool August night with just Doran and Elia in attendance. They later sent small lanterns into the sky. “ _A prayer for peace and love,_ ” Elia had told him with a smile before she embraced Ellaria and left with Doran so they could start their lives.

He questioned Elia’s decision to marry the philandering Rhaegar, silencing only when she tearfully informed him of her pregnancy.

 _“It’s what’s best,”_ she had whispered, fighting a sob. _“What’s best for the baby and for me. Rhaegar will take care of us.”_

She was right. For a while. But he and Doran were the ones there at the hospital when Elia gave birth to a daughter, not Rhaegar. He was third to hold his niece in his arms, twisting his lip in disgust when he realized her name. “ _You’re naming this beautiful little thing after_ him? _At least name her after Doran, then she has a chance!”_

Elia scoffed in annoyance. _“Give me my baby back.”_

-;

She’s pregnant with her son when she calls him in tears. _“I’m leaving Rhaegar. Tonight. Can you come and pick us up?”_ He was there in ten minutes.

Ellaria was wonderful with the extra people in their home, and he found himself adoring his wife even more every day. They have two daughters of their own now, Tyene and Obella. Tyene and little ‘Rhae’ take to each other and scamper around the property, filling the house with laughter. Doran brings his son Trystane and daughter Arianne around often and soon the adults are unable to hear themselves think over the roar of the children.

Elia is happiest when she is there at their home. Aegon is born on a sunny October afternoon right in the house, coming so fast without a chance to get her to the hospital. She refuses to go after and helps clean up the mess, Ellaria and Arianne setting the bed up for her once again so she can rest and nurse her new son.

Her divorce from Rhaegar is finalized in December and she finds a new home within a mile from his house. _“Rhae and Aegon can grow and flourish there, attend school, and be near their cousins. This is right.”_

He wishes forever that he had objected. That he had told her to stay.

-;

“ _It wasn’t your fault_ ,” Ellaria tried to get him to understand but he barely heard her in his rage.

Dead.

They were all dead.

The police had shown up at four in the morning, nearly breaking down his door before he had heard their calls. He had been dragged out the door and stuffed into a squad car, taken into the station for questioning because of course, family is always the first suspect, before he even knew what had happened to his Elia and her babies.

Dawn is breaking as he walks out of the police station to find Ellaria waiting for him. She reaches for him and yet he pushes her away, choosing to walk the four miles to their home and locking himself into his study. When Ellaria hears the crashes inside, she doesn’t bear to try and enter.

-;

“He is drinking,” Ellaria murmurs. “A lot.”

“Oberyn has always liked his wine,” Doran says and Ellaria’s temper flares.

“This isn’t a couple of glasses at dinner, Doran!” she snaps. “This is vodka at six in the morning and wine and scotch all through the day! I cannot let the children near him for fear he may yell at them or frighten them.”

“You can have the girls come and stay with Mel and I.”

“Don’t you care?” Ellaria asks.

Doran’s face reddens. “Of course I care!” he growls. “I loved Elia too!”

“Then help do something for the sibling you have left!”

-;

“What do you mean, you haven’t found him?!”

Ned Stark holds up two hands in an effort to calm him but Oberyn scowls angrily, storming away.

“Mr. Martell, there are wanted warnings on every television network. His picture is all over the internet. We will find him.”

“And while you sit on your ass and wait for someone else to do your job for you, the man that murdered my sister and her children gets farther and farther away,” Oberyn snarls. “How would you feel if someone took your children away from you? Your son’s a rookie cop right? What if some bastard took him away and got away with it? Would you sit here and just _wait_ for someone to give you a tip on the phone and say ‘he’s at my gym?’ _What would you do?!”_

Ned sighs, lowering his hands. “I would tear apart the world until I found him and then I would tear him to shreds.”

-;

He’s speeding. He knows he’s speeding but he doesn’t really care.

Ellaria had begged him not to go out. That he had had too much to drink. She had even offered herself as a distraction but he had angrily rebuffed her, ignoring the flare of guilt at the hurt that had crossed her face.

The spedometer is creeping up past eighty. His vision is beginning to blur, the glass of scotch he had knocked back before storming from the house starting to take effect.

And then...and then...

He doesn’t notice the stop sign.

-;

[ [elia](http://www.polyvore.com/elia_martell/set?id=222616015) ]

“Well this is a predicament you’ve gotten yourself into, huh brother?”

He gapes.

Elia smiles, gently reaching over to stroke his cheek with the tips of her fingers. “How about it?” she whispers.

“How about what?” he manages and Elia shakes her head.

“Get out of the car.”

He shakes his head. A trickle of blood streams down his nose. “I don’t want too.”

“Yes you do,” Elia murmurs. “You have a lot waiting for you at home.”

“You’re not there. Your babies aren’t there.”

“But you are.” At her brother’s confusion, she hastens to explain. “Your heart is at home. Tyene and Obella. The babe in Ellaria’s belly.” His eyes widen at that and Elia smiles, her fingers tightening around his hand. “Oh yes, little brother. You are destined to have a big family. A house full of children and...” her eyes narrow just a bit. “Sadly no sons but I never got the hint that you would care about that.”

“All daughters?” he asks and Elia laughs.

“All daughters.”

Oberyn winces. “Wow.”

Elia gently brushes her fingers down his chin. “Get out of the car.”

“Elia...”

“Ob, you do not have much time. If you die in this car, then they have won.”

“They’ve already won,” Oberyn murmurs, his eyes suddenly filling with warm tears. “You’re dead. Rhae and Aegon –“

Elia shakes her head. “ _No.”_ Her voice is firm, the voice she would use on him when they were children and he wanted to scamper off of some family function. She would often accompany him and they would get a little soused on a bottle of liquor that he would steal from their father’s study.

Doran would be sent to fetch them and would make sure to parade their drunk selves through the front hall so all the guests could see them. But yes, there were a few times where even Elia had to say _no_.

“We’re not dead, Oberyn.” She places her hand on his chest and he covers it with his own, feeling the warmth underneath. “We never die as long those who love us live on.”

He heaves a small angry sob, brushing away the falling tears in annoyance. “Is this real?”

“That’s up to you, Oberyn. Would you like me to be real?” When he nods she smiles. “Then I am. I’m right here.” She pats his chest again, their fingers linking together. “Live on. As long as you live, you win. I win. Rhae and Aegon win. Every time your heart beats, you win this battle and you _will_ win this war.”

Oberyn stares at her, unable to even chance a breath for a fear she will disappear.

“I love you, little brother.”

He sobs again. “I love you too.”

“Give Doran a kick in the bum for me, will you?” Elia asks and he laughs. A rare sound. “Kiss your kids, embrace your wife.”

“You’re leaving?” he breathes.

Elia nods. “You’ve made your choice, Ob,” she murmurs. “Now go live.”

_Live._

-;

“Sir?! Sir, can you hear me?”

He blinks rapidly at the bright light above him. Soft hands brush his face and shoulders.

_Elia..._

“Sir, squeeze my hand if you can hear me.”

His hand tightens around a foreign hand, the digits squeezing feather light. He hears a huff of relief.

“He’s back.”

-;

The newborn’s cry fills the air. Oberyn walks out to the waiting room where the others are waiting. “It’s a girl.”

Doran gets up from his seat and wraps his arms around him, kissing his cheek. “Congratulations, brother.”

Oberyn smiles back, resting his hand on Doran’s neck. “We’re calling her Elia.”

-;

He directs Obella and Tyene to the chairs in the hospital room. Obella sits, her long hair pulled back in a braid that her mother had done up this morning just as the first contraction had hit.

The two girls sit crunched together in one chair as he gently places their new sister into their arms. Tyene giggled when little Elia kicked her tiny feet, ticking one finger over her small toes. “Daddy, she looks like auntie El.”

Oberyn exchanges a look with Ellaria, leaning down to wrap his arms around their girls. His wife smiles, wiping tears from her eyes as she gazes at her family.

“Yes. Yes she does.”

-;

**Author's Note:**

> I didn’t want to write something where Clegane and Oberyn come face to face. In the real world, families don’t often get that and I wanted to try it where Oberyn did find peace in his family and in his children without ever seeing Elia’s killer be found. I tried writing a scene like that and it just didn’t fit for me. 
> 
> Reviews would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading, loves.


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